BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – In a rollercoaster of a basketball game, the Lipscomb men’s basketball team rode the Malcolm Smith express to a 66-62 win over Gardner Webb on Wednesday night at the Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C.

Behind a 7-for-11 night from the field and an 8-for-14 game at the charity stripe, Smith matched his career high with 22 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds in the first road game of 2012-13 for the Bisons.

“Malcolm was huge,” said Lipscomb head coach Scott Sanderson. “He stepped up big tonight and played a whale of a game for us.”

Lipscomb (2-1) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the contest but the Runnin’ Bulldogs (1-2) battled back in the opening half fueled by 14 Bison turnovers and making 12-of-13 from the free-throw line to take a 36-29 lead at the half.

“You can’t play much worse than we did the first four minutes of the second half but I’ve got to give our young group a lot of credit to battle back and compete at a high level,” said Sanderson. “To get a 20-0 run on the road is big for our team.”

After letting GWU stretch the lead to 16, the Bisons used the 20-0 run over a six-minute period in the second half to turn a 46-30 deficit into a 50-46 lead for the Purple and Gold capped off by a pair of Malcolm Smith free throws at 11:05.

The huge comeback was fueled by eight points from freshman big man Stephen Hurt, who finished the night with a dozen, and two big treys by sophomore guard Carter Sanderson.

“We’re a young team but we just kept battling back and kept getting stops,” said Malcolm Smith. “This is a big-time win for us that should give us a lot of confidence beating a good Gardner-Webb team on their home floor.”

Junior guard Khion Sankey hauled in double digits rebounds for the second-straight game and added seven points before fouling out of the game.

“I’m proud of our guys that could have easily tucked their heads but they battled back,” said coach Sanderson. “This is a very good win for our young team. “

The Bisons get a bit of a break for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action on Nov. 23 at Southeastern Conference foe Ole Miss at 4 p.m. in Oxford, Miss.